Manuel Amado

Source: Ariz. Daily Star, 15 Feb 2009. Photo from Maria Amado Byers.

As with my previous post, I am looking into the descendants of Santos Amado and Gertrudis Cordova. This post continues with their son Manuel Amado. According to his baptism record, he was born on 27 October 1829 in Hermosillo, Sonora.

Source: Ancestry. Mexico, Select Church Records.

Manuel Amado married Ysmaela Ferrer in 1859. Their Informacion Matrimonial was completed by Bartolome Suastegui in the pueblo of Tubutama, part of the District of Altar in Sonora. This is the same priest who witnessed many of the marriages and baptisms on the Campuzano side of the family in Altar. According to articles on the Amado family, Manuel settled in Arizona around 1852, ranching near Mission San Xavier del Bac. Other articles mention Manuel started ranching about 1860.

Manuel and Ysmaela had at least the following children:
- Teresa Amado, 1860-1943
- Emilia Amado, 1864-1941
- Manuel Hilario Amado, 1865-1942
- Paul Amado, 1870-1871
- Demetrio Amado, 1871-1956
- Antonio Amado, 1874-1968
- Maria Ismaela Amada, 1877-1964
- Alberto Amado, 1880-1962
- Ernestina Amado, 1883-1921

Source: Az Memory. Portrait in the backyard of the Amado home, c. 1890s.

The photo above from the Arizona Memory Project shows several of the Amado children in the patio of the family home in Tucson in the 1890s. The home is now the office of the Tucson Symphony Society.

The town of Amado, Arizona in Santa Cruz County is named after the family and was founded on land originally owned by Manuel Amado.

Source: Google Maps. Amado, Arizona.

From census records it looks like the family lived in Tucson and maintained the large ranch in Santa Cruz County. Amado sold meat from the ranch in Tucson, and likely in other parts of the state. An advertisement from El Fronterizo newspaper in May 1890 shows that Manuel offered various chorizo, beef, mutton and meat for sale.

Source: El Fronterizo, 2 May 1890.

Manuel died on 20 January 1904 in Tucson. He is buried in Holy Hope Cemetery.

Ysmaela maintained the ranch with her sons until 1913, when she finally sold off the remaining livestock. At the time of the sale it set a new high for Pima county cattle. Over 3,000 livestock were sold.

Arizona Daily Star, 23 Mar 1913.